Rasberry and Smith Win the #13 Shoot-Out at Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping

Oklahoma's Bill Rasberry and Thomas Smith came from third call-back in the #13 Shoot-Out to win first with a time of 29.26 seconds on four head, worth $44,000 at the United States Team Roping Championship's Cinch National Finals of Team Roping.

"I got here and had one run and I thought I need to call Thomas and see if he'd like to rope today," Rasberry said. "We got entered just right in the knick of time and everything worked out."

"I woke up this morning and hit my alarm about seven or eight times and decided I better hurry up and get around," Smith said. "I got in a traffic jam and Bill called me and asked me if I wanted to rope and I said, 'Yeah, enter us.' so that's where it started."

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Rasberry and Smith made a nice, clean run in the short to move them to the number-one position with two more teams to sweat before they could be awarded their Bob's Custom Trophy Saddles and Gist Silversmiths buckles.

"I was just wanting to get a good start and get it on him," Rasberry said. "I knew Thomas was going to throw fast. I knew if I got it on him somewhere in the middle of the pen we were going to be in really good shape. I hate to see anyone do bad. Those guys had bad luck and just let us slip in there and get it."

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"We were just actually talking,"Smith added. "We were like, 'Boy we'd like to win this.' and one guy legged and one guy hit the horn, then we didn't know what to say–we're happy."

Rasberry was riding a newer horse that was added to his herd just a month prior to this event. Smith may have had some jokes, but he was on a little sorrel to help clean up the run.

"I was riding a 3-year-old that I practiced on for about 45 days—not really," Smith said jokingly. "No, that was my good 9-year-old that I bought off one of my really good friends. He's actually a ranch horse that I've been riding pretty solid here lately. That's about all I ever ride now."

"I've just had my horse for about a month," Rasberry said. "My good horse got crippled and I borrowed him for a roping and did pretty good on him and they guy wanted to sell him. My horse wasn't getting any better so I bought him. He's 18-years-old. He's been there, done that and he's still a good one."

Kaitlin Gustave, a former intern during the creation of the new magazine, is now a new addition to the Team Roping Journal as assistant editor. She is a 2018 graduate from West Texas A&M University with a degree in broadcast journalism and minor in marketing. She competed in college rodeo during her time in Canyon, Texas, at WTAMU, and roped at USTRC and World Series of Team Roping events across the Southwest. She grew up in San Juan Capistrano, California and moved to Texas in her later teen years to accomplish goals in the rodeo and roping world. Kaitlin enjoys spending her free time roping calves or heading steers, attending amateur rodeos and World Series of Team Roping competitions with her two horses in tow.